(→‎Captains: Do not start an article with Captain Obvious or Captain Irrelevant)

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The following is a listing of Quote templates

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{{Shortcut|UNQUOTE}}

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This page lists the templates used for quotations. The only quote templates still in normal use are {{Tl|Q}}, {{Tl|Cquote}}, and {{tl|Wilde}}.

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__TOC__

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===Why use quotations?===

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Neither Wikipedia nor any other encyclopedia have articles that start with quotations (though some fundamentalist religious writers quote scripture at the top of an article). Authors who use initial quotations for "realism" are mistaken. The overriding goal of the Introduction is to tempt the reader to dig into the remainder of the article. Any quotations should support this goal. Superficially, they should be serious, but the substance should be funny. A poorly written introduction can make the reader stop reading the article only a few sentences in.

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===Quotations===

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Unlesstheauthor has a clear comedy idea in mind, the quotation should be by a well-known person, and it should be something the person actually said, or ''almost'' something he said, or especially something he would have said until you shamelessly took him out of context. Quotes should not be by "You" or "Me" or "Your mom" or "Some guy" or "Everyone". These quotes, and "apocryphal" quotes uttered by "A customer at Burger King," quickly break the encyclopedia gimmick and suggest you think you are lettering in the balloons of a comic strip rather than writing a fake encyclopedia article. The same applies to a series of "bickering quotations" that go back and forth. This is a form of comedy, but Uncyclopedia articles should begin by giving the impression that they are a Wikipedia article.

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{{tplisttop}}

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Thetone of the quote should always be consistent with the "source's" style. Some sources have specific styles. Shakespeare's archaic English or Yoda's unusual grammar are extreme examples. Most sources don't have a well-known style, but you should still make the quote something the source could have said. For example, a 19th century writer would not have used terms like "noob," "wtf," or "lulz."

[[UN:HTBFANJS|HowToBeFunnyAndNotJustStupid]] explains why you should avoid overusing Uncyclopedia memes such as [[Oscar Wilde]]. Any Wilde-ism quote ought to have something to do with Wilde (such as debauchery, time spent in prison, perversion, or some ''double entendre'') and also have something to do with the article at hand.

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{{tplist|Q2|1|Hello,world|2|[[You]]|3||c=Quote in the form of <nowiki>{{oscar}}</nowiki>}}

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{{tplist2|OWQ|Inserts Wilde: quote article inline.|c=}}

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;Captains

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{{tplist2|OWQL|InsertsWilde:quotearticleinline.|c=}}

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[[UN:HTBFANJS|HowToBeFunnyAnd Not Just Stupid]] also mentions gimmicks that have been used way too many times to be funny. New authors often start articles with:

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{{tplist|Oscar|1|Randomlyrandomizerandomrandomness.|2||3||c=}}

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*Astatementofthe obvious, as a quote attributed to [[Captain Obvious]]

Startingyourarticle with these unfunny devices, perhaps with the lame excuse that you have seen it done in hundreds of other Uncyclopedia articles, does not engage your reader and does not improve our encyclopedia.

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{{tplist|cquote|c=Alternative quote template}}

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;Overdoing it

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Quotations, like lists, can be overdone. In addition, a long list of quotations encourages anonymous editors to add just one more. If an article begins with more than two quotations, there ought to be a good comedy reason.

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Quotations as a goal in themselves are pursued in our [[Unquotable]] namespace.

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;Header clutter

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Avoid excess templates, quotes, or other "header clutter" at the start of an article. Placing a thumbnailed image above the text is acceptable, as the text will still show at the top of the article. Placing a legitimate {{tl|Whoops}}, or other disambiguation at the top on an article is also acceptable, but that should only be used as a navigation tool, not as a joke. The introduction sets the tone of the article, and many readers associate header clutter with poorly written articles.

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;In-line quotations

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Inside a paragraph, use quotation marks and other standard formatting, rather than breaking paragraphs with {{tl|Q}}. For example, one should type that William Shakespeare said, "Brevity is the soul of wit." One should not use {{t|Q}} and say that:

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{{Q|Brevity is the soul of wit|William Shakespeare}}

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This method abruptly ends the previous paragraph, and may start the following one just as abruptly. Interrupting a paragraph with {{Tl|Q}} breaks the flow of ideas and looks less encyclopedic. There is a reason books are written in paragraph form. If you must pepper your text with quotes with {{Tl|Q}}, be sure there is a clear comedy reason to do so.

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=== Quotations ===

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Click on the name of the template to see the documentation on how to code it.

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{{tplist top}}

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{{tplist|Q|1|Hello,world!|2|You|3|quotations|c='''This is the quotation template to use.''' If there is an Uncyclopedia article on the speaker, his name is turned into a link to that article. If there is a third argument, it is the subject of the quote (but see below).}}

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{{tplist|Quote|1|Hello,world!|2|Pipe|3|Piped link|c=In this template, there are two links for the speaker: one for the Uncyclopedia page, and another for how you want the link to read on the page: <nowiki>[[{{{2}}}|{{{3}}}]]</nowiki>. {{{4}}} is the subject. This template works like {{tl|Q}}, but with less complete coding. It is only mentioned for archival purposes, and should not be used.}}

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{{tplist|Q2|1|Hello,world|2|[[You]]|3||c=This template works like {{tl|Q}}, but with less complete coding. It is only mentioned for archival purposes, and should not be used.}}

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{{tplist|Nicequote|1|Hello,world|2|[[You]]|3||c=This template is still kicking around as well. Please use {{tl|Q}} to make Uncyclopedia seem like one encyclopedia rather than several.}}

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{{tplist|Wilde|1|This is a metasyntactic sentence, mainly because it sounds cool.|2|a template, not necessarily this one|3||c=This template is still in use, but everything it does can be done with {{tl|Q}}.}}

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{{tplist|Cquote|c=This template is often used for lengthier quotations in the body of an article.}}

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{{tplist|Vquote|c=This is like {{Tl|Cquote}}, but the author can set it to take less than the entire width of the page.}}

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;Subjects

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Most of the templates take a final argument that let you state what the speaker is speaking about. In the first example, "You" are speaking "on quotations." '''You need not provide this text''', and you '''should not''' unless it completes the joke or tells a second one. Especially, a page such as "Carrot" does not need each of its quotations to note that the speakers were speaking "on carrots." And you should not capitalize this argument (unless it's a proper name), as it will be put after the word "on."

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=== Random quotes ===

=== Random quotes ===

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Inserting random words into an article may amuse you, but will not amuse the reader, except maybe at random. So do not use any of the following templates:

The "OWQ" and "OWQL" templates for generating Oscar Wilde quotations out of a central repository, and the "Bushism", "Canned", "Killquote", and "Random" templates for generating "canned humor" [sic], will not be down for breakfast.

=== See also ===

=== See also ===

* [[Uncyclopedia:Templates/In-universe]]

* [[Uncyclopedia:Templates/In-universe]]

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* [[Uncyclopedia:Templates]]

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* [[Uncyclopedia:Templates]]

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[[Category:Templates]]

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[[Category:Templates]]

Latest revision as of 16:36, July 26, 2014

Contents

Neither Wikipedia nor any other encyclopedia have articles that start with quotations (though some fundamentalist religious writers quote scripture at the top of an article). Authors who use initial quotations for "realism" are mistaken. The overriding goal of the Introduction is to tempt the reader to dig into the remainder of the article. Any quotations should support this goal. Superficially, they should be serious, but the substance should be funny. A poorly written introduction can make the reader stop reading the article only a few sentences in.

Unless the author has a clear comedy idea in mind, the quotation should be by a well-known person, and it should be something the person actually said, or almost something he said, or especially something he would have said until you shamelessly took him out of context. Quotes should not be by "You" or "Me" or "Your mom" or "Some guy" or "Everyone". These quotes, and "apocryphal" quotes uttered by "A customer at Burger King," quickly break the encyclopedia gimmick and suggest you think you are lettering in the balloons of a comic strip rather than writing a fake encyclopedia article. The same applies to a series of "bickering quotations" that go back and forth. This is a form of comedy, but Uncyclopedia articles should begin by giving the impression that they are a Wikipedia article.

The tone of the quote should always be consistent with the "source's" style. Some sources have specific styles. Shakespeare's archaic English or Yoda's unusual grammar are extreme examples. Most sources don't have a well-known style, but you should still make the quote something the source could have said. For example, a 19th century writer would not have used terms like "noob," "wtf," or "lulz."

Memes

How To Be Funny And Not Just Stupid explains why you should avoid overusing Uncyclopedia memes such as Oscar Wilde. Any Wilde-ism quote ought to have something to do with Wilde (such as debauchery, time spent in prison, perversion, or some double entendre) and also have something to do with the article at hand.

Starting your article with these unfunny devices, perhaps with the lame excuse that you have seen it done in hundreds of other Uncyclopedia articles, does not engage your reader and does not improve our encyclopedia.

Overdoing it

Quotations, like lists, can be overdone. In addition, a long list of quotations encourages anonymous editors to add just one more. If an article begins with more than two quotations, there ought to be a good comedy reason.

Quotations as a goal in themselves are pursued in our Unquotable namespace.

Header clutter

Avoid excess templates, quotes, or other "header clutter" at the start of an article. Placing a thumbnailed image above the text is acceptable, as the text will still show at the top of the article. Placing a legitimate {{Whoops}}, or other disambiguation at the top on an article is also acceptable, but that should only be used as a navigation tool, not as a joke. The introduction sets the tone of the article, and many readers associate header clutter with poorly written articles.

In-line quotations

Inside a paragraph, use quotation marks and other standard formatting, rather than breaking paragraphs with {{Q}}. For example, one should type that William Shakespeare said, "Brevity is the soul of wit." One should not use Q and say that:

This method abruptly ends the previous paragraph, and may start the following one just as abruptly. Interrupting a paragraph with {{Q}} breaks the flow of ideas and looks less encyclopedic. There is a reason books are written in paragraph form. If you must pepper your text with quotes with {{Q}}, be sure there is a clear comedy reason to do so.

This is the quotation template to use. If there is an Uncyclopedia article on the speaker, his name is turned into a link to that article. If there is a third argument, it is the subject of the quote (but see below).

In this template, there are two links for the speaker: one for the Uncyclopedia page, and another for how you want the link to read on the page: [[{{{2}}}|{{{3}}}]]. {{{4}}} is the subject. This template works like {{Q}}, but with less complete coding. It is only mentioned for archival purposes, and should not be used.

This is like {{Cquote}}, but the author can set it to take less than the entire width of the page.

Subjects

Most of the templates take a final argument that let you state what the speaker is speaking about. In the first example, "You" are speaking "on quotations." You need not provide this text, and you should not unless it completes the joke or tells a second one. Especially, a page such as "Carrot" does not need each of its quotations to note that the speakers were speaking "on carrots." And you should not capitalize this argument (unless it's a proper name), as it will be put after the word "on."

The "OWQ" and "OWQL" templates for generating Oscar Wilde quotations out of a central repository, and the "Bushism", "Canned", "Killquote", and "Random" templates for generating "canned humor" [sic], will not be down for breakfast.